Seven Days of Light or Darkness
by FallenSeraphs
Summary: To protect Cloud, Leon accepts a proposition from Sephiroth that may damn or save them both. Warnings: yaoi, slight non-con. Disclaimer: You know that I know that I don't own or make money off of Square/Disney's 'Kingdom Hearts' series.
1. Day 0

Seven Days of Light or Darkness

Day 0

The Coliseum echoed with the hiss of sand as Leon fell backward, the rough ground digging into his skin with the grip of a thousand miniature claws. Fire split his throat as his lungs clenched and convulsed, his mouth open to the sky, snatching desperately for air. Fingers tightened around the hilt of his Gunblade in preparation to rise and strike, but were quickly forced to abandon the weapon, knuckles grinding loudly against each other as the weight of his opponent's boot crashed down unmercifully against them. A sudden bolt of steel pierced his abdomen, resonating pain throughout his entire body as he jerked upward with a cry.

"For you to foolishly challenge me for his freedom, tell me," the other warrior growled in a low whisper, "what is he to you?"

Through small shudders, Leon found his voice "A friend…" The edge of his mouth flickered upward in a sad smirk "…but what does it matter to you?" a swallow, "I've lost."

"I fail to see what keeps him bound to you and the others."

The pathetic grin widened. "…Never… expected you to."

Jade eyes studied him silently, intent but also callous. As Sephiroth slid Masamune from its living sheath, Leon felt the warmth of blood trickle down his side.  
"I don't suppose you could explain it to me…"

The dark haired man stifled a choked chuckle, a small shockwave of pain shooting through his veins once again. "It would be… a waste of breath."

"Hn." Sephiroth replied amusedly, withdrawing his foot from the younger man's hand and causing it to shake in numb relief.  
"I wonder," the flicker of something dangerous flashed in his face "what else you would do to keep Cloud from me?"

"What… are you getting at?" Grey eyes hardened into stone. "What is he to _you_?"

"What does it matter? I am giving you another chance, take it."

Leon did his best to ignore the feral smirk pulled across the one-winged angel's face. An uneasy apprehension settled itself with the dull ache of pain in his muscles. Still, he could not bring himself to fail Cloud again. "… What do I have to do?"

"I will keep you for seven days," Sephiroth stated, "if in that time you prove that I should keep you captive in Cloud's stead, I will not touch him so long as you remain mine."

**.**

The red belts that had hung so snugly from Leon's hips now betrayingly bound his wrists to the thin iron bars of his captor's headboard. From the corner of his gaze he could see his jacket discarded haphazardly on the ground and as he closed his slate eyes he could feel his waistband pushing down past his thighs. A shiver ran through his stomach as the tip of Sephiroth's tongue dragged across his freshly sealed wound.

With a steadied breath, Leon resigned himself to his fate. He'd seen injured blue eyes too many times to turn back, and no matter how much contempt he felt for the other man, he would stay and entertain Sephiroth's whims until a better solution came along. Even if he had wanted to escape, his sore body was too weary to put up much resistance.

Leon's throat suddenly clenched in an audible gasp as Sephiroth's tongue dipped into his navel, quicksilver hair shifting over his waist. Pleased with this reaction, Sephiroth repeated the motion, heated velvet applying more pressure as it penetrated and twisted, gloved fingers running up the Leon's side as the brunette shuddered and bit back a soft, guilty moan. The sound caused Sephiroth to purr with contentment.

Nipping the naval once before abandoning it, Sephiroth traced up the dips in Leon's muscles, pushing the edge of his white shirt past his chest and closing his mouth over a coffee nipple. Leon moaned openly in response, his fingers flexing lightly against his bindings. As Sephiroth sucked harshly on the tightening skin, Leon felt leather encased fingers trail down his lower stomach and tease the base of his steadily hardening cock. His hips instinctively jerked upward, wind beginning to push through his mouth in ragged pants.

Smirking, Sephiroth shifted to the other nipple, swirling around it with his tongue and lightly grazing his teeth. In the breath-accented silence, he began to chuckle darkly. "You're actually enjoying this, aren't you?"

Leon bit down on his lip to keep his silence, his horror with himself growing at how much he steadily wanted more of the man's buttery leather touches, his slick hot mouth, the ends of his hair tickling gently at his sides…

He felt hot breath ghost over the line of his scar, lips brushing over his earlobe. A hand free of leather met his mouth as the other continued to tease his erection with gradually increased pressure. "Suck," Sephiroth commanded.

Dark lashes separated slowly, blue-grey eyes regarding the naked hand steadily. Taking the digits slowly into his mouth, Leon ran his tongue up and down each finger before sucking obediently, smirking inwardly with vengeance at the surprised groan against his ear.

When he deemed his fingers wet enough, Sephiroth withdrew them, gloved hand moving to free himself from his constricting pants as one of the dampened digits came to rub against Leon's entrance, earning a strangled whimper from the other warrior.

Capturing Leon's bottom lip between his, Sephiroth's finger entered him roughly, sending a sharp shock of pleasured pain through his body. As the first finger moved inside of him in purposeful strokes, a second finger entered, scissoring and stretching Leon as he began to adjust and buck back into them. Kissing Leon harshly, Sephiroth added a third finger, gloved hand grasping Leon's hip and grinding their erections together.

Searing tongues danced and warred with each other as heated groans vibrated through their lips. As Sephiroth's fingers withdrew and the head of his cock pressed against Leon's entrance, the younger fighter's knees drew wide open, mind abandoning any last rational thought of showing defiance. With a harsh thrust, Leon's back arched sharply, mouth breaking from the other's kiss to cry out as his restraints crackled against his wrists.

Sephiroth bit down into Leon's shoulder, fingers digging deeper into his hips as he drove into him at a demanding pace. With every thrust, Leon's yells of pain melded into moans of rising lust, sweat-slicked brown hair clutching into his face as he began to drive his body back against Sephiroth's with whatever force it could muster.

A shuddering growl vibrated through Sephiroth's chest as he rolled and slammed his hips harder into the brunette, all feeling entrapped in the sensation of Leon's fire. As he shifted and drove deeper into his body, the feathers of his ebony wing caressed against Leon's skin, making him shudder and clench harshly against Sephiroth's plundering length.

Leon's erection rubbed roughly against the hard muscles of Sephiroth's powerful body as he was pounded into the creaking mattress. His back bolted up into an arch as his sweet spot was hit, sending his sight into a dizzying haze with a loud exclamation. His voice broke, rough from moaning, and as a hand wrapped around his arousal and began to stroke, he could take no more.

The feeling of Leon's body convulsing tightly around his cock and the heat of cum against his stomach sent Sephiroth off the edge as well, spilling deep inside the brunette as he rode through his spasms of orgasm, milking everything into the captive he had claimed.

Leon was sent spiraling into a world of black, his abused aching body unable to take being awake another moment longer.


	2. Day 1

Day One

The first measures of Mozart's String Quintet No. 6 registered sluggishly into Leon's consciousness, its instruments creeping into the room as if a flock of curious birds. The two violas twittered cautiously; they did not know what to make of the stranger lying face down in Sephiroth's bed. The violins jeered at the violas' wariness in response, bravely taking flight above the tussled brown mess that was Leon's hair. The lone cello swayed back in forth between the two, moaning every once in a while with indecisiveness.

Slowly, Leon's eyes opened. He did not remember falling asleep on his stomach, but the pillow pushed into his face suggested that he had. As he lifted his head, things became a bit clearer. The restraints that had held his hands in place were gone, leaving only a pair of red rings that singed like a bad sunburn.

With a hiss, Leon urged his battered wrists to help push his upper body up, plummeting back down with a 'plop' as dizziness overtook him. A few breaths later, he tried again, succeeding in getting himself into a sitting position. It was then that he began to notice that his body was feeling very, very sore.

Thoughts ambushed his mind with images of the night before, twisting his face into a scowl. He remembered how his body had responded so damned willingly, his hips bucking back into powerful thrusts as if to demand more abuse. Leon wanted to curse Sephiroth for all of it. He couldn't.

This is what he had signed up for; he knew that he had no one to blame but himself.

With a sigh, Leon pulled on his pants and tested his legs against the ground, gradually applying pressure until he felt he was stable enough to stand. The wound in his abdomen gave a wince as he straightened his posture, twisting his lips into a harsh curse and nearly causing him to lose his balance. With a small bit of trouble, he regained a strong footing and began to walk, the birds of Mozart leading him downwards toward the kitchen.

**.**

It was strange to see Sephiroth sipping coffee. It was if the act was too simple, too commonplace, too _human_ for the silver-haired warrior to even bother with. And yet, because it was Sephiroth, the plain gesture had been transformed into an event befitting an expensive ballroom party. Cream had been beaten into soft mountain peaks, chocolate melted in a saucepan, and a bit of rum stood nearby a bowl full of cherries.

"Would you like some?" Sephiroth offered, his head inclining towards his cup as his eyes grazed Leon's face. The stem of a cherry twirled idly from under a sugary island of white and drizzled brown.

"Straight black, please." The brunette replied as he eyed the spectacle in the older man's mug. He wasn't the type to like ridiculous things in his coffee.

"I thought you might say that," Sephiroth answered, rising to pour a cup from the pitcher. "Did you sleep well last night?" The elder warrior asked a bit too nonchalantly, setting Leon's coffee in front of him.

Leon cradled the mug in his hands and pulled it close, stormy eyes gazing at the black liquid with as much defensiveness. Was the bastard really looking for a fight this early in the morning?

"I asked you a question."

Still, the younger man did not answer.

"You said the name 'Squall' a lot in your sleep."

"What of it?" Leon asked, suddenly trying to be casual. Lifting the lid of his cup to his mouth, he forced himself to take a sip, ignoring the fact that the liquid burnt his tongue. Sephiroth's gaze did not move from his face, as if gauging every muscle on it for reaction.

"Who is he?"

"That's a good question." Leon replied a bit too curtly. By the smirk on the other's lips, Leon figured he had just given Sephiroth exactly the reaction he was waiting for.

"I think you know who he is." Sephiroth stated, emerald eyes glittering.

"And how is it any of your business?" Leon demanded, his tone growing louder as blue-grey eyes chanced meeting the older man's gaze directly.

"It is my business," Sephiroth replied simply, unwavering from the challenge presented on Leon's expression, "I own you."

Leon's mug slipped from his hands and fell to the table. He was frozen, staring at the silver haired man as if he had never in his life met such an audacious creature.

"Did you misunderstand our contract?" Sephiroth mused aloud.

Leon pushed himself up out of his chair growling, "My body is one thing, but there is no way-"

"-You think that I do not own Cloud in every way?" Sephiroth interrupted with a chuckle, shutting Leon into silence.

"I have seen sides of him that he would never dare show you, and not just because I have slept inside of him. If you cannot handle the weight of our agreement, then maybe you should best leave it to him. He is used to it."

Leon's eyes narrowed in disgust, clenched fists shaking with the urge to mar the other's pale, arrogant face. "I am going out."

"In that condition?" Sephiroth raised a slender silver brow as he watched the younger warrior turn and meander his way up the stairs, "Is this the end of our bargain, then?"

Leon stopped mid-step, not bothering to turn, "No," setting his foot down, he allowed himself a hidden grimace, "I will be back later."

"Damnit," Leon cursed to the pavement, trying his best to ignore the panging in his abdomen. Lifting his gunblade, he swung its weight towards his latest adversaries, blasting the small group of black creatures into bursts of dark smoke. "Having this much trouble with Shadows is absolutely ridiculous." Digging his weapon into the ground, Leon shifted to rest on the Gunblade's handle as if it were a cane, soft pants for air scraping through his lungs.

"Squa~ll," a familiar female voice echoed softly through the corridor, "S'that you?"

Leon's posture straightened immediately, desperately trying to cover up any signs of injury in preparation for a very nosy teenager- one who could not remember his very express wish to be called 'Leon'. Unfortunately, he was not equipped to handle the shock of said teen's face popping up right next to him not more than a second later.

"Where the fuck have you been?" Yuffie demanded, sending the taller warrior stumbling backward, "We had a meeting at Merlin's house today and you didn't show. Everyone's been worried about you. You're supposed to be our leader!"

"…Uhm," Leon stumbled, his mind flipping through thousands of excuses trying to find one that would fend the young ninja off.

"I've been busy," he came up with lamely.

Thankfully, the flustered teen took things her own way, "Goddammit, Leon. You're going to overwork yourself. You can't kill every single Heartless alone, y'know?"

"I know. I'm sorry." Leon made an effort to look as if he had been caught stealing cookies from a jar. "What was the meeting about?"

"The usual," Yuffie replied, seeming a bit placated by Leon's puppy face. Twirling her large shuriken behind her back idly, she transferred her weight onto her right leg and looked at the sky. "Someone reported bigger Heartless roaming around. Merlin argued that they should be dealt with via magic. Cid called him a hairy old twat and said they should be dealt with using science. You know how that married couple goes."

Leon chuckled.

"In any case," Yuffie began, looking at Leon with her chiding expression again, "You really need to tell someone before disappearing like that. We expected better of you."

"I know," Leon said, this time with sincerity. Turning to study the crack in the ground he had made with Gunblade, he let out a small sigh. "Yuffie?"

"Mm?"

"I'm going to be gone for a bit," Leon admitted, "tell the others not to worry."

"Where you going? Why?" the teen asked, eyes wide as she leaned her thin shoulders in, her face pressing up against the boundaries of the taller man's personal bubble. Leon was beginning to realize that there was only way out of this situation: a bribe.

Leon dredged up his most convincing smile. "It's a secret."

"Oh ho ho! I like secrets," Yuffie answered with a grin.

"Tell you what, then," Leon began, trying to ignore the horrors of what he was about to say, "as long as you can keep where I am to yourself and don't come looking for me, I'll let you be the boss of the Committee for a while."

"REALLY?" Yuffie exclaimed, before quickly regaining the reins on herself and coughing in embarrassment "I mean, I don't know…" Her black lashes narrowed skeptically for a moment. "I'd reallly like to know what it is you're up to."

"Trust me. I know what I'm getting into," Leon assured her. "If it makes you feel any better, I'll tell you as soon as this is all over."

Yuffie's lips pinched together and shifted to the side of her face as she considered. "Alright. But I have to be the FIRST to know, got it?"

"Got it."

"Well, I'll leave you to your super-secret Squall shit, then," the energetic teen began, pivoting on her right foot and stealing a glance back, "I've got a committee to run!"

The older warrior resisted the urge to facepalm. "Goodbye, Yuffie."

As Leon watched the young ninja's back disappear around the bend, the fraudulent grin on his face grew even staler. It would take time, but the others would eventually forgive him for Yuffie. He worried that Sephiroth would be a different matter to them.

Leon knew he would have to tell the others, eventually, but it was something he would put off for as long as he could. Once the truth was out, they would try and come for him, no matter how hard he tried to convince them that he could handle himself.

They would let themselves get hurt and die for him. That was the trouble with having good friends.

From the corner of his eye, Leon caught how the shadows of the building next to him began to rise off of the ground and shift like evaporating pools of water. Giving a small groan, Leon tugged Gunblade out of the ground, readying his stance to demolish another group of Shadows.

Unfortunately, nothing of the sort came out.

Yuffie had obviously not been paying much attention to the part of Merlin's Meeting where someone had mentioned 'bigger Heartless.' The way she had brushed the topic off was an insult to the fact that his enemy's knee stood a few inches above Leon's head in height.

Beady yellow eyes latched onto their prey from a fidgeting oblique head. Thin, disjointed arms swayed and curled like flapping kites before shooting towards Leon's head with terrible speed, giving the brunette warrior only seconds to block, knocking him backwards like a leaf in the wind.

Leon cried out as his back hit the pavement, gritting his teeth as his wounded stomach protested with angry throbs. His hands shook as they struggled to regain hold of his weapon, head pounding with its attempts to keep focus. Again the creature's limbs spun above him, spiraling left and right before lunging straight towards his face…

…and exploding into a cloud of black dust.

Confused, Leon twisted his head to try and discover the cause of his enemy's demise. Not a second later, he found himself being hoisted up and over the leather-clad shoulders of a certain silver-haired bastard.

Growling, Leon pushed his hands against the other's chest in attempt to shove the elder warrior off. Sephiroth only tightened his grip around Leon's rear in response. "Your idiotic antics are failing to impress me, Squall."

The brunette warrior hissed, battered limbs unyielding in their efforts to try and escape. "How long have you been sitting there stalking me?"

"Long enough," Sephiroth answered in annoyance, "Did you think you would be of any use to me dead?"

"I could have handled myself," Leon replied, face tightened stubbornly.

"No you couldn't have, not in your condition. You know that," Sephiroth retorted, "You are just a silly masochist with a lion's pride."

"And what does that make you, Sephiroth?" Leon scowled.

Jade eyes latched onto blue-grey, thin pupils dangerously feral, "A sadist who is very selfish with his possessions."

Using the arm unburdened by a still-struggling Leon, Sephiroth unlocked the door to his abode and kicked it open with the heel of his leather boot. With a few more steps, he unceremoniously threw the brunette onto his couch, wandering off to his pantry. Leon's attention turned to the open door in thought.

"If you make a move from that couch, I will not think twice about beheading you," Sephiroth proclaimed as if he had eyes in the back of his head, "It would be wise not to become more trouble than your inconsequential worth."

"I wasn't going to leave," Leon muttered, '_although the thought was nice,'_ he finished to himself. With a sigh, Leon surrendered himself to circumstance and shifted to face the back of the couch. The weariness of his beaten body caught up to him quickly, screaming angrily of his neglect. To his surprise, as if to answer his prayers, a vial of Elixir appeared between his curled stomach and the suede cushion in front of him.

"I trust you can open the bottle yourself," Sephiroth stated, throwing a blanket in Leon's astonished face before shutting the front door. "After that, you are to get some rest."

Taking the vial in his hands, Leon twisted the cap off and brought the liquid to his lips. Relief was almost instant, flooding his body like warm butter, relaxing his muscles and making his wounds numb. "…Thank you." Leon finally managed, looking up to the older man's back.

Sephiroth did not bother to turn, attention focused on his bookshelf. "Do not thank me. I did not do anything for your sake," A gloved finger perused the backs of each book, before picking one from the center, "Instead, apologize for being so pitiful."

"I am sorry."

"I do not appreciate liars."

Leon bit his tongue, though he did not welcome the insult. Selfish motives or not, Leon had to admit that the man had saved his life. He felt that something had to be given to show his gratitude. With a bit of hesitance, Leon began with the only thing he could think to offer.

"…You want to know why I don't go by the name Squall anymore."

Sephiroth stilled for a moment. Abandoning his chosen read on an end table, the tall man settled into the sofa diagonal from Leon and straightened, inclining to face him. "Go on."

Setting the Elixir on the coffee table beside him, the younger warrior paused as he searched for where to start. "…I was 16 when the Heartless overran our world," he finally told the other. "…I was an orphan, a loner, a different man than the one I am now…" Leon found it easier to look at the couch as he talked. There was something very unnerving about how intently Sephiroth stared at him. "I think the only thing I cared about was getting on the damn Gummi Ship out. I kept on telling myself that there was nothing I could do."

"There wasn't," Sephiroth stated with a degree of certainty that hardened the brunette's eyes into stone.

"Well that's the difference between you and me, isn't it?" Leon spat.

"Perhaps," Sephiroth answered, seemingly ignorant of the other's rage, "There was more to your story, wasn't there?"

"Forget it," Leon snarled, curling under his blanket, "I shouldn't have wasted my time. You wouldn't understand."

"I understand more than you realize," Sephiroth growled lowly.

"No," the younger warrior declared, brushing the other off with a hand, "I think that is just your arrogance."

Leon soon found his wrists pinned painfully behind his shoulders, chest buried against the back of the couch. Pointed canines bit into the arch of his neck, nipping up to his ear. "Do not pretend to know me," Sephiroth warned.

A small gasp escaped the younger man's lips, pulse slowly becoming as heated as his revulsion. "I only judge based on what I see," he hissed.

"Then you would do best to remember that what you see isn't necessarily the whole picture."

Leon opened his mouth to argue, but soon found his lips fast drowned in Sephiroth's hunger. Feeling daring, his teeth bit down on the elder man's tongue, hard enough to make the other pull back with an angry snarl. "I thought you told me to get some rest," Leon spat accusingly.

A drop of blood spilled between Sephiroth's scowling lips as he studied Leon with hardened eyes. The brunette couldn't help but smirk at the sight. Getting a reaction out of the self-important warrior was quickly becoming a high to him.

"You only have seven days," Sephiroth responded flatly. With a sharp twist of his bound arms, Leon's captor released him, "Note that one of them is already halfway over." Without another word, the silver haired man brushed past his view, the book from the end table already nestled in his gloved hand.

Leon moved to stare at the man's back for a moment, his expression no longer smug. Quietly, he laid himself back down and pulled the blanket tight against his frame. His eyes closed unavailingly. He knew sleep wouldn't come.

**.**

When Yuffie returned to Merlin's, the old wizard and Cid had stopped lunging at other's throats. Instead, both men were facing pointedly away from one another, looking like they had each taken a bite out of something terribly sour. Merlin's hand gripped tightly to his pipe as the engineer sucked on his cigarette as if it were a straw.

"I thought you both quit those things," Yuffie miffed, hands on her hips. Two aggravated grunts were her response. With a sigh, she turned her attention to the corner.

Tifa was wrapping one of Cloud's wrists in a bandage, using a piece of hard cardboard as a splint. "That should do until Aeris gets here," she said when she finished. The blonde did not turn to look at her. "Cloud, if you hadn't been so reckless out there today…" before she could even begin, she bit back her admonition, "Nevermind. Just… please… don't push yourself." Cloud didn't answer her.

Yuffie made her way over, seemingly oblivious, as usual, to the tension that filled the air. "Jeez. What'd you get into this time, Cloud?" Instead of looking at the man she was addressing, she glanced at Tifa. Cloud hadn't been speaking much lately. "Let me guess; Potions are going so fast they're out of stock. And don't tell me Aeris is stuck playing nurse all night again."

"The people here need her to heal them," Tifa answered, offering a weak smile, "We can't be selfish with her or healing items, Yuffie. The townspeople can't defend themselves like we can."

"I know, I know," Yuffie breathed, lips fixing into a pout. Her eyes roamed over Cloud's wrist, "But the way things have been going lately, who is going to save _us_? I mean, I ran into one of those Heartless we heard about today about an hour ago. Cid and Merlin weren't kidding. Those things are _huge_."

"Cloud and I just got through fighting one," Tifa admitted, her small smile waning as she turned to the injured blonde, "Or really, I found him like this, with his sword tossed aside… and finished the fight for him."

Yuffie frowned.

"Probably wouldn't've happened if there were more Claymores around," Cid muttered, flicking the butt of his cigarette into the trash.

"That, most indeed, would have proved agreeable," Merlin began sarcastically, "Ah, provided that your… uh, Claymowatchamacallits… had any significant effect on the beings. Yes, yes, quite a shame."

Yuffie groaned in exasperation, "Both of you. Shut it."

"'Scuse me?" Cid snarled at her, "Whose goddamn dead carcass decided that YOUR teeny, shit-shootin' ass was the fuckin' boss 'round here?"

"Squall."

Everyone grew quiet and stared at her. She had even managed to capture Cloud's attention.

"Don't you all look at me like that," Yuffie huffed, "He really **did** make me boss! He said that I could run the Committee! He said I could do it as long as I kept his-" she cut off suddenly, eyes wide, blood filling her cheeks, "Uh-oh…"

"His _what_, Yuffie?" Cloud asked quietly.

The ninja's round face winced as if the words coming out of her mouth were causing physical pain, "His… _secret?_"

All at once, everyone was demanding answers from her. Her ears couldn't pick out the difference between one voice and another's. The exception to this was Cid, as his voice was the loudest, but he wasn't asking her anything. Instead, he was screaming pointless obscenities at the ceiling while his fist crunched an entirely unopened carton of cigarettes.

"ALL OF YOU, QUIET," Yuffie yelled finally. Everyone settled down immediately, with the exclusion of Cid, again. The engineer contented himself to drop one last, long F-bomb as soon as he looked at his hand and realized he'd just wasted an entire pack of smokes. He immediately launched the crumpled box at Yuffie's head.

It hit her right between the eyes, falling to the ground with a pathetic _thwack_. She stared at it and cleared her throat, "So, um, yeah… I've seen Squall."

"Where?" Cloud asked, getting to his feet. Tifa raised a hand and cautiously set it on his arm. Her mouth opened to plea with him, but he interrupted her. "_Where?_" he asked again.

Yuffie's voice came out in a squeak, "Dark Depths…?"

Without another word, Cloud disappeared out the door. Tifa immediately ran after him, but stopped as soon as she had set one foot outside. "_Again?_" She whispered silently as she stood there, her fist clenching tight. He was already gone.

**.**

Leon lay unmoving from his spot on the couch, watching in secrecy as page by page slipped through Sephiroth's gloved fingers. It was as if each sheet of turning paper marked a grain of fallen sand in an hourglass. An hourglass he could not afford to run empty. Still, _what could he do?_ The question sounded in his head again and again, a skipping record. He had no answer. And so, he continued to stare.

_The way things are now, you aren't going to win this bet_, he told himself- and answered himself with an exasperated _I know, I know…_ He didn't appreciate his own attitude, _Well if you just sit there doing nothing… I KNOW, ALRIGHT?_

"I'm going to go for a walk," Leon decided suddenly, springing from the couch and grabbing his Gunblade.

"I will allow that," Sephiroth replied casually, flipping another page, "But do not expect me to make another appearance on your behalf should anything go wrong."

"I don't," Leon retorted curtly, slamming the door on his way out.

**.**

Leon had not walked very far when his eyes caught hold of a familiar set of spikes. Ducking behind the bend, he sucked in his breath in a desperate attempt not to be seen. The familiar clank of Soldiers' feet sounded, but he knew that they would be no problem for the blond warrior to handle. He began to walk back from where he had come, but then he heard it- the slightest intake of breath followed by a curse. Without thought, he turned, rushing to his friend's aid.

Cloud was fending the beasts off with bare arms as they swarmed on him from overhead. In the midst of black dust, Leon's eyes caught the flap of a white bandage, unraveling from the blonde's wrist.

"_Reckless idiot,_" Leon breathed as he brandished his Gunblade. Sweeping around Cloud in a counter-clockwise circle, his sword split through the armored black bodies of his remaining enemies. As their captured hearts were set free into the sky, he found the blonde motionless, azure eyes widened for an infinitesimal moment. In that moment, Leon froze as well.

Putting away his weapon, Leon finally straightened and gave a sigh, "Just what do you think you're doing out here? Injured. Without your sword…"

Cloud blankly stared back at him, "Well, I don't know," he answered simply, "What are you doing here?"

Realization hit Leon like a block of cold ice being forced down his throat. _Yuffie._ Cloud continued to search him for an explanation. Leon's eyes hovered over the blonde's shoulder rather than facing him directly, "I've found a lead on why there might be bigger Heartless around here."

Cloud gave a noise that was something like a snort, "Then why didn't you come and tell us about it?"

"Because the answer may have something to do with my past," Leon offered, praying that his voice didn't waver like he thought it did.

"Oh," there was a pang within those blue eyes, the kind of pain that came with not being trusted. It was if Leon's words had set up an invisible wall between them that was almost tangible. It hurt, but it was necessary. Cloud was much safer behind that wall. "You know, Leon… say something next time."

"I know. I'm not usually like that," Leon admitted, "I just got carried away."

Cloud nodded. The edge of his lips pulled back slightly over his teeth as his face shadowed over, "Just …Sephiroth lives around here," he admitted hesitantly.

"I'll tell you if I see him." The taste of so many lies were foreign to Leon's mouth, bitter and unwelcome as his eyes fixed to the ground. They couldn't bring themselves to meet the wounded gaze now scrutinizing his expression.

"Alright," his blonde haired friend consented, offering a trusting half-smile that Leon knew he hadn't deserved, "but be careful."

"You too, Cloud," Leon returned the smile, though his was plastic. The sound of the others calling Cloud's name echoed down the rocky corridors. The blond turned on his feet and walked toward the noise, turning his head back one last time before disappearing completely.

Cloud would be the hardest to tell the truth, he knew.

Leon would do it as soon as he had come into terms with it himself.

**.**

Sephiroth was no longer reading when Leon came back into the house. He noticed the elder warrior's absence as he set his Gunblade against the couch. The book the silver-haired man had been perusing sat quietly in its place on the shelf, a red bookmark holding Sephiroth's place. It seemed to be a collection of philosophical debates. Out of pure curiosity, Leon took the book and opened to the page the man had marked, reading a few lines.

_Does darkness exist? We can use a prism to break white light into many colors, to study its various wavelengths, and yet, we cannot measure darkness. How do we determine how dark a certain space is? We measure the amount of light present. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. Therefore, darkness does not exist; it is simply the absence of light._

Leon scoffed a bit as he put the book back, _Tell that to someone who's been attacked by a Heartless._

Climbing the stairs, he turned into Sephiroth's room. The man was asleep on his side, covers tucked under a bare arm. His moonlight hair had spilled over his naked chest, black wing tucked in close to his back. His face held a pure serenity the brunette thought the man could never possess while awake.

The bastard looked almost angelic. Almost.

Leon couldn't help but stare at the man's pale neck. He swore that if looked hard enough, he could see the man's pulse thrumming through it in steady beats. An idea had struck him. _You could end it now_, he thought to himself. The hilt of the elder warrior's Masamune stuck out from underneath the man's pillow. _You could slit his throat and it would all be over. You would be free. Cloud would be free._ His hands shook. He took a deep breath. His hand went to reach…

Sephiroth's eyelids began to flinch as though troubled, his lips beginning to move in muttered slurs. Leon didn't dare move another inch. Instead, he watched the elder man, breath hitched.

"So, you've …fallen into the darkness as well," Sephiroth finally whispered. Leon waited for more. A few minutes later, he found he could no longer hold his breath and exhaled. Sephiroth's silver lashes snapped open, "_Traitor._"

Leon found himself hoisted up in the air by his collar, the Masamune poised just under his chin. Sephiroth's eyes were unfocused, feral, his pupils thin, catlike slits. The color drained from the brunette's face. _This is it, Leon_, he thought, _you're going to die._

Luckily, Sephiroth's mind began to register the younger warrior. His grip relaxed just slightly, expression still furious. Dropping his sword to the ground beside the bed, the taller man used the fist curled in Leon's shirt to throw him towards the door. "_Get out,_" he commanded, his voice curt.

Leon had no problems obeying.

**.**

The couch was becoming very familiar to Leon. Covering himself with the blanket from earlier, he rested his head on the arm, thankful that it seemed to be just as soft as a pillow.

_Looks like Sephiroth has secrets of his own, _he thought to himself_, _beginning to smirk silently. In his head, he replayed how the other had needled him for information that morning, how he had stalked him to learn his name, how angry he had been when realizing Leon had caught a side of him the bastard had never meant to show. _It's a start, _he recognized with overwhelming relief.

It was dangerous, he knew, this pride in flirting with the man's unguarded emotions…

"_You only have seven days."_

…but the real danger was in doing nothing.

* * *

A/N: The lines from Sephiroth's book are based off an internet rumor about Albert Einstein arguing the existence of God with his teacher. If you're interested, google "darkness absence light" and you'll find it.


	3. Day 2

Day Two

_Whispers of light grazed Leon's closed eyelids, filling his skin with feverish warmth, both odd and yet familiar. He felt relieved. Only a moment ago he'd thought himself stranded in the darkness, his body lying in a void that neither time or place could touch. Now that he had some gravity to hold on to, he felt himself pull to the light like a planet orbiting a star. _

_As he neared, the warmth grew until it became tangible. Soft skin, no_, lips_ pressed tentatively against his mouth, growing hungry, insistent. Fingers cradled in Leon's shirt as if he were the only thing keeping them steady. Some part of him realized that he knew this taste from somewhere before, but where? He couldn't place it. All that he remembered was that he liked it, and when the tip of a tongue pushed against his teeth, he couldn't find the will to deny it's entrance. _

_His eyes opened to meet the owner of a fragile breath that wasn't his own, finding feathery blond spikes resting on lightly freckled skin._

Cloud?

_Leon's mouth slacked in a surprised gasp, which the other took as encouragement. A small noise escaped Leon's throat, disbelief echoing through his brain… and then serene silence. _

_He had found something he didn't know he'd missed. He wanted this. He wanted Cloud. Friendship had grown into love when he hadn't been looking, and now it flowed through him like a broken dam, tongue and lips moving together to sculpt something perfect. He closed his eyes again and groaned._

_A hand left Leon's shirt to rest on the scarred warrior's neck. The brunette didn't think anything about it at first. It was only when he noticed the wisp of light had left and the room had gotten cold again that he began to think something seemed strange. The mouth against his grew more brutal than passionate, teeth tugging at his bottom lip in a way that made him wince. The hand around his neck held him heavier and firmer, clenching until there was barely any air to gasp._

_His eyes opened, but he could see nothing. He imagined if he could, he would see silver instead of blond. He could feel a familiar cat-like grin spreading against the line of his jaw now, sending low chuckles straight to his ears; it was a noise that was quickly fading away with his consciousness, the lack of oxygen to his brain making him feel oddly giddy. His fingers scratched weakly at the grip around his neck, losing their purpose at an alarming rate, slipping from his captive's arm and falling away into the nothing once again. _

_But before Leon could be lost to the darkness completely, Sephiroth left him a gift:_

_A mock lover's kiss that burned like a brand._

_**.**  
_

Leon woke in the morning and found himself irritated. Irritated and quite sure that Sephiroth was to blame for all of his irritation.

First of all, though last night's dreamings had already turned into fog in his head, he remembered that Sephiroth had done …_something_… and that that _something_ was for _some reason_ bugging him to no end. Second of all, he could vaguely recall that the dream was sexual in some sense. And violent. But of course, that was a given; basically everything involving Sephiroth had sex and violence in it _somewhere_.

Leon also found himself irritated in a different way. Namely, he had a raging boner. Nature was to blame for the uncomfortable weight between his legs, he knew, and yet it contented him more to fault Sephiroth instead. The silver-haired man had infiltrated into his dreams, after all. _That bastard._

Undoing the tedious buckles and zippers of his pants, he pushed them off his hips for some relief and peeked under the blanket to examine the situation. His penis faced him directly.

_As much as he disgusts you, you want him,_ it seemed to say to him, _in fact, your shame is just making me harder._

Leon scoffed at the tower of flushed skin, pointedly trying to ignore the way his pulse seemed to throb through it.

_You should go upstairs and have him do something about me_, the firm mass of flesh twitched. _He's not bad on the eyes, and you know for a fact that he'd take good care of us._

Leon licked his hand and grabbed a hold of his base, his expression even more annoyed. _No. _I'm_ taking care of us. Here and now._

_Really? What are you going to clean me up with when I explode? This couch is suede, you know. And we're right under the stairs. This house is a small hovel carved into rock, and let's face it; you can get kind of loud… You'll probably end up waking him and getting raped anyways._

Leon grumbled. _I'll go use the bathroom._

_Sure. Remember where the only toilet in this place is? It's right next to Sephiroth's room. Yeah. Rape. You can't win._

Leon's hand let go of his erection and flew into his hair, gripping hard as he exhaled slowly. _Oh my god, please tell me I am _not _having a conversation with my penis._

Maybe it was all the blood immigrating from the head above his neck to the head down below it, but using Sephiroth for sex was beginning to sound like a good idea. _He started it, _Leon began rationalizing to himself, _why should he get away with it?_

_In fact,_ he thought, remembering the delightful interrogation Sephiroth had prepared for him yesterday morning, _if I play my cards right, maybe I can needle him for information about _his _past._

Removing his top and grabbing his belts from the floor, Leon set course for Sephiroth's room, telling himself firmly that this was about _vengeance_ and _nothing else_.

**.**

Leon was thankful that the position of Sephiroth's wrists made it easy to tie them together without disturbing the man too much. As he glanced at the Masamune that rested underneath the elder warrior's pillow, he was reminded of the cost of making any wrong moves. For this reason, he decided it best to let Sephiroth stay sleeping on his side for now.

Pulling back the covers, Leon was unsurprised to find that Sephiroth slept naked. To the brunette's disdain, his groin ached in appreciation of that fact. He gave himself a hidden grimace. _This is fucking crazy, _he began to think, stopping himself before he could re-evaluate the situation further. _No. You put yourself here, Leon, and for the next six days, you are going to see it through. If nothing else, you are going to be the best damned fuck toy that Sephiroth has ever had. _A few choice images popped in his head at the thought, leavingLeon disgusted at how his current state didn't unwelcome the idea. He sighed harder. _Let's just get this over with._

Leon crawled up from the foot of the bed, positioning himself sideways so that his head hovered opposite Sephiroth's length. It was a bit awkward lying on his right arm, but it would have to do. To make things easier, his right hand slid up and down his own lower stomach, fingers teasing enough to take his mind off of the discomfort.

Opening his mouth, Leon let a heated breath run over the other man's base. He found he liked the way the skin above it spasmed slightly in response. He chuckled softly, whether because of nerves or disbelief with himself, he could no longer tell. His brain was shutting down and desire was pushing through.

Bringing his lips closer, he kissed the inside of the other man's pale thighs. Tiny trembles ran up from his sleeping victim's knees, rewarding Leon with the knowledge that there was a weak spot in the near-flawless man. As he licked and grazed his teeth experimentally over the sensitive muscles, the base of the other's penis began to grow ever eager. Small grunts mumbled under a quickened breath grazed Leon's ears, making the brunette's ego smirk.

It seemed the vindictive, mischievous side of Leon had finally awakened.

As his tongue slid down to caress Sephiroth's testicles, Leon pushed his pants off and began to tighten his hand at the base of his own shaft. A noise of his own escaped his lips as his thumb began to work himself up and down.

"Leon…?" the other man slurred in hazy confusion. In answer, Leon's left hand grabbed onto Sephiroth's hip for support and pulled himself closer, pressing his lips against the elder warrior's stiffening length. Sephiroth hissed in his breath sharply. The sounds that followed were a sort of victory hymn to the brunette; Leon had pegged Sephiroth as the type who never let slip just how turned on he really was.

Half-slit green eyes opened blearily to stare at Leon, and then at the restraints. A flash of anger stiffened the elder man's gaze before giving way to a glimmer of amusement. It wasn't clear which look meant more danger, but Leon tried to push the thought out of his mind. He couldn't afford for courage to leave him now. Relief came easier as Sephiroth lazily rolled onto his back, propping his pillows up against the headboard with his shoulders, giving him leverage to watch. The Masamune clattered down the crack behind the mattress, as if reassuring Leon's safety.

Re-positioning himself onto his knees, Leon began to use his whole fist to stroke himself, his tongue pressing against the back of Sephiroth's length and running up to his tip. He smirked as the older man began to purr ferally, bound hands pushing the sable hair that had fallen in his face out of slate blue eyes. Long fingers entangled themselves behind his ears and pulled him closer. Obeying the unvoiced command, Leon neared and closed his mouth over the other's flushed head. Slowly, he began to push and pull Sephiroth's cock deeper and deeper towards his throat.

Leon's original intention never left him. It loomed somewhere in his consciousness, reminding him that his plan was to eventually pull away. He knew this, and yet several things made stopping difficult- the addicting taste of Sephiroth's heated skin, the smell of lust between them in the air, the friction of his hand pumping against his own flesh… again and again he found his lips vibrating with deep moans. He felt near the edge of madness. It didn't help that any shame had long left him, mind possessed by wrenching the tinniest of unguarded reactions from the cold-hearted beast beneath him.

It was the way that Sephiroth's hips were beginning to lift up and press back into the mattress that finally instilled urgency back into him. Gripping his own erection tighter, Leon quickened his pace, desperately racing to bring himself to the edge before the other. He soon found himself at his own peak, his stomach tight with the feeling of falling over, legs trembling as he bucked into his hand.

Leon's lips left Sephiroth's cock as his head sprang back with a groan, cum spilling out onto the silver-haired man's thighs and sheets. Sephiroth remained hard.

Leon smirked at the other with an open mouth, panting. His flushed face was both cruel and triumphant.

"What kind of game do you think you are playing?" Sephiroth growled, fully awake now.

Leon was tempted to laugh at the way the man looked like a bristling tiger, reveling in his own afterglow. He felt invincible, high above on a platform that even Sephiroth couldn't touch. He decided to push his luck. In the same nonchalant tone that Sephiroth had used the morning before, Leon began his own line of questioning. "So… Who did you lose to the darkness?"

The tiger's jade eyes narrowed, "That doesn't concern you."

"It concerns me as much as my being Squall concerns you," Leon retorted back, his hazy grin widening. His fingers tiptoed their way up Sephiroth's knees, remembering the weakness he discovered earlier.

Leon didn't expect the other warrior to chuckle. The sound made his blood freeze solid.

"You really should know by now not to underestimate me," Sephiroth snarled. To the brunette's horror, the leather belts around the other man's wrists began to tear apart as if they were nothing more than masking tape.

Leon backed away from the bed as quickly as his exhausted body could, eyes searching for anything he could use as a weapon to defend himself. Finally, they fell on a lamp. Dashing towards the fixture, he stumbled and missed, immediately changing his focus onto_ just getting out_. He didn't make it very far. His legs gave out, sending him falling on all fours, fingers digging into the rug that covered the bedroom's wooden floor.

It was an ideal position for Sephiroth to grab his hips by.

As Leon fought to block his mind from the pain, he remembered what foolish pride had blinded him to: If he cracked open that dark heart too much, too soon, it would swallow him whole.

**.**

"_Because the answer may have something to do with my past."_

Cloud hadn't slept well last night. He hadn't been sleeping well for the past few nights, actually. Ever since Leon disappeared three days ago without a word, his worry for his friend's well-being had kept him wide awake. Now that he had seen Leon again, his worries had grown quite different. Still, the results remained the same.

He had thought that he and Leon were close, but now the notion seemed like a one-sided feeling. He'd never bothered to ask Leon about his past, and he'd never shared his own because he couldn't remember. In the end, what did they really even know about each other? The question kept pecking at his mind like a chocobo hunting for the right type of grass.

"You sure you don't want help with those waffles?" Yuffie asked him, openly amused at his attempts at eating with a splint in his wrist.

"Very sure," Cloud answered flatly. The fork felt awkward in his fingers, shaking every once in a while and going in directions he never intended it to. It was still less humiliating than having Yuffie feed him as if he were a baby. Looking at the ninja's laughing expression, an idea suddenly struck him, "but maybe there is something else you can help me with."

"Hm?" Yuffie questioned, sticking a powdered cherry in her mouth. A second later, she pulled out a knotted stem and swallowed. "Like what?"

Yuffie came from the same world Leon did, right? That's how she knew his real name. Maybe this was cheating, Cloud thought to himself with an inward frown, but still… "What was Leon like before your homeworld was taken over?"

"Asking questions about Squall, huh~?" Yuffie teased, beginning to loom over his plate with a stupid grin plastered on her face.

"Forget it," Cloud said quickly. He went back to staring intently at the half eaten waffle on his plate. His fork stabbed at a piece, but it fell right back into his plate, spitting syrup everywhere. Cloud pretended nothing happened.

"Well," Yuffie huffed, a little disappointed, "I couldn't really tell you much anyways. I didn't talk to Squall a lot before I met up with him in Traverse Town. I doubt he really wanted to talk to anyone then, period," her lips swished to favor one cheek, "He was sort of an ice queen. Whatever made him change his name, well… I think it changed him."

The thought of Leon being an ice queen was an amusing one, but Cloud could sort of see it being true. So it seemed that Yuffie, the one who knew Leon longest, didn't know much either, huh? He found himself strangely relieved.

Yuffie raised a brow, "So why did you want to know?"

The mischief that had returned to the ninja's black eyes made Cloud groan, "Look, it's not like that. Leon said that the bigger heartless might have something to do with his past."

"Oh," Yuffie said simply, looking suddenly, perhaps inappropriately, bored. She took a sip out of her cup of orange juice before shrugging, "Well why don't you go ask him?"

Cloud looked down at his plate again, picking at his waffle sloppily. He managed to get a piece in his mouth, only to find out his food had gotten cold after struggling with it for so long. He ate it anyways and didn't complain. The handle of his fork got caught up in his bandages, his fingers unsuccessfully maneuvering to dig it out, sending the silver utensil clattering to the ground. Cloud, again, pretended nothing happened.

"Well?" Yuffie asked again, taking another sip of her juice.

With nothing around him to look distracted with, Cloud finally answered, "I don't think he trusts me."

Orange juice came out of Yuffie's nose.

Cloud immediately got up and pushed himself from the table, "What the hell, Yuffie?"

Yuffie scrambled for a napkin, holding her nose tightly as she coughed, "You're so fucking_- hack -_oblivious, Cloud!"

"What?" Cloud's eyebrows pulled together and curled upwards, as if asking his forehead whether anything Yuffie had just said made sense.

"Haven't you_- cough -_noticed, idiot," Yuffie replied, face having turned red, "Hell, everyone here_- ahem -_has liked you at some point or another."

Cloud turned his confused expression to Cid, who was still sleeping like a rock in his chair, a blueprint covering his face.

"No, not him," Yuffie answered as if it should have been as plain as a dog bite on the ass. Her breathing had gotten a bit better now. Instead of hacking up her lungs, she was clearing her throat, sounding much like a growling monkey. "-_Hrrm_- Thanks for saving me from choking to death, hero."

Cloud was about to make a snide comment along the lines of 'It was just orange juice,' when the door opened. Immediately, his spirits sank lower. He did not want to see either of the two ladies that walked in. At least, not right now.

"We leave you two alone for one morning, and you can't even eat breakfast without making a mess," Aeris teased. Her dress without a wrinkle, eyes without any bags, she didn't look at all as if she had been healing others for three days straight. She always seemed to hide those things well. Cloud wished he knew her secret. If he did, he could have avoided all of this.

Tifa followed behind the flower girl, stopping in her tracks as she saw the syrup stains in the tablecloth and Cloud's dirty fork lying on the floor. Sighing slightly, she picked up some napkins and began to clean up. "Well, what else could we have expected?" she smiled a bit.

Cloud was silent.

"You sure it's ok to be here, Aeris?" Yuffie asked, frowning slightly, "I mean, it's not that we don't miss you. It's just that reports of the Heartless have been getting worse since they called you into the clinic. I didn't even know how bad it really was until I got attacked yesterday."

"It's ok," Aeris answered, nodding, "I'm only here for a little while, after all."

Cloud knew why.

If he had to compare them to something, Tifa and Aeris were much like a pair of mothers. They were the two who had found him, sleeping in Ravine Trail under a demon-like wing, wounded and worn after his first fight with Sephiroth. Since then, at least in his eyes, they treated him as if they'd adopted a troubled child. If one mother had a problem with him, they always went and complained to the other mother. If neither mother could make him crack, then they would come and corner him together.

Cloud was secretly very frightened of them together.

"Let's see about that wrist, Cloud," Aeris began, walking over with her hands folded behind her back. Bowing from her waist, her head became level with his splint, inspecting it.

Cloud immediately flinched, his hand pulling away, "I'm fine; I can heal quick on my own. You should be with the others that can't."

Tifa finished wiping up what she could and threw the napkins in the trash, "Not everyone can heal like you, but not everyone can fight like you either, Cloud," with practiced care, she piled up all of the dirty dishes, "And with Leon gone, we need everyone we can get."

Aeris nodded in agreement. Cloud hated that nod. Reluctantly, he surrendered his wrist.

"Cloud said something interesting today," Yuffie said suddenly.

"Oh?" Aeris questioned in a tone that was all too familiar to him. She carefully undid his splint and rested her fingers on his skin. Cure's warmth worked its way into the blonde's bones, but somehow pain was beginning to throb inside of his head. "Yuffie," he warned.

"What?" Yuffie placed her fists on her hips, "As Committee Leader, I think everyone has the right to know what's going on with the Heartless,"

Cloud wanted to scoff. Sure, _now_ she cared about the Heartless.

"Well, what's going on, Cloud?" Aeris asked, letting go of his wrist. Tifa stopped herself in the middle of folding up the tablecloth.

Finally, the _real_ reason Aeris was there, Cloud thought. It always came down to that question, didn't it?

Green eyes and mahogany looked at him expectantly.

Cloud coughed a bit. "Well, Leon thinks the bigger Heartless have something to do with his past. That's why he doesn't want us bothering him." He prayed silently that his air of nonchalance worked. No one in the room seemed to be buying it. In fact, he was quite sure the smile on Aeris' face just spread a little wider.

Tifa went back to folding the tablecloth, feigning her own indifference. The act was transparent to Cloud only because he had come to know her well enough. "Well, why don't you go ask him?" she asked carefully.

Yuffie began to snicker, "He doesn't think Leon trusts him."

"Really?" Aeris asked, using the same upward inflection as before. It was a nuance that made Cloud almost believe there was a different Aeris right beside him, giggling and whispering in his ear 'I'm getting pretty close, so you should just cough up whatever you're hiding now.'

Cloud's eyes darted to the door. If he thought the tag-team between Tifa and Aeris had been a nightmare, he now knew things could be much worse; if Tifa and Aeris were his mothers, then Yuffie was fast becoming his tattletale little sister. He felt like a wild animal being backed into a cage, betrayed by everyone in the room, even Cid- after all, the engineer wasn't awake to save him, was he?

As if answering the complaint in Cloud's head, the door suddenly swung open and Archimedes sailed in, landing on top of Cid's blueprint and rousing the startled engineer abruptly. In the confusion caused by Cid flailing wildly and cursing at the owl, Cloud attempted to flee, knocking into Merlin in his escape.

"MERLIN, STOP HIM!" the three girls cried in unison.

Merlin adjusted his glasses. Immediately after, Cloud found himself seized by magic, unable to take another step.

"Say, where do you believe you are going, my boy?" Merlin asked, "Now that we are all present, the meeting can begin," the old wizard looked over to Cid, the wrinkles in his face immediately tripling and practically glowing red, "What's going on here?"

"Your go'damn bird tried to fuckin' suffocate me in my sleep!" Cid yelled, still swinging his fists.

"How was I to know your face was under that thing?" Archimedes retorted indignantly, dodging punches.

Cloud tried again to move, but Merlin's magic held strong. As if sensing what he was thinking, Yuffie pulled his frozen form into the room as Aeris shut the door and locked it. Tifa looked at him almost apologetically.

Any way that he looked at it, Cloud was trapped.

**.**

"Cloud, you have to understand, we've been worried about you," Tifa sat across from him, her hands reaching out to cradle his.

"I know," Cloud replied, eyes ever avoidant, "but you shouldn't-"

"-For the last time, of course we should," Tifa answered, giving him a swift kick under the table, "You're our friend. You would do the same for us."

The warmth on Cloud's fingers combined with the smarting of his knee, providing an odd comfort; they were both honestly Tifa. It tempted him to be honest as well.

Cid nodded from his spot in the corner, mulling over his blueprint. "You'd do best to listen t'her."

"I agree," Aeris added, "After all, you're worried about Leon because you love him. Isn't that right?"

Cloud suddenly felt like his chest was being played like a piano.

"Isn't that a bit too bold?" Tifa whispered to Aeris with a side glance.

"No, it's the truth," Aeris answered out loud.

Cloud continued to be quiet. He was losing the will to fight his two mothers. If Tifa was the lovable Watson, Aeris was her Sherlock. The flower girl had simply walked into the room, picked up a few clues, and then put them together in a ridiculously impossible way to solve the mystery in Cloud's head. And she was right. The word 'love' fit what he felt too well.

Tifa's fingers curled around his tighter. Cloud smiled sadly, conceding defeat. Everyone silenced to hear him speak.

"I ran into Sephiroth four days ago," he admitted. Immediately he felt Tifa tense protectively. A quiet fear passed between each person in the room. "Nothing... physical happened," he assured them. "I just didn't want to be alone, so I went to see Leon."

Cloud paused for a moment, putting the words together in his head. "I didn't want to burden him with what Sephiroth had said, but he eventually pushed it out of me."

"-What did Sephiroth say?" Yuffie asked.

Cid snorted. "I don't think it really matters what that faggy-lookin' bastard said, Yuffie," he still hadn't looked up from his plans, "When's anything he's said ever good?"

Merlin looked up as if he was about to agree, and then seemingly remembered who he would be agreeing with, quickly becoming re-absorbed with one of the many magic books strewn across his floor. The red of anger from earlier still hadn't left his face.

"Well, let's just pretend it's important," Aeris said.

"But it isn't," Cloud answered, wishing that the old wizard had just put away his pride and spoken up.

"Well, let's pretend that it is." Aeris replied. She was playing Sherlock again.

Cloud sighed. He was too exhausted to play another game of cat-and-mouse, especially when there were multiple cats and he was nothing but a helpless cloth toy to them. "Sephiroth said," he stopped. Even though Cloud himself thought what had been said was stupid, it still caused his throat to seize up. "He said that happiness is pointless, fleeting, fragile. He said that if I could remember the past, then I would know that. He promised to remind me." His hand trailed to his back where his wing once had been, "To bring me back into the darkness where I belong."

"Do you really believe that, Cloud?" Tifa asked.

Cloud didn't respond. He didn't let a second pass for him to think too much about it. "Can we please talk about Leon?"

No one pressed him any further.

Cloud continued where he had left off, "The next day, Leon was gone. Someone told me he'd left for another world, but they couldn't tell me which. I would have gone to search for him..."

"...But that's when we got the news that the Heartless had gotten stronger," Tifa finished.

Cloud swallowed in reply. "Yesterday, Leon told me that the answer to the Heartless had something to do with his past. That's when I began to wonder, why hadn't he told me anything before? I didn't even get a note before he disappeared..."

Cloud looked down to study the cracks and scratches in the table, feeling an odd kinship with them, "I realized, what did I have to give? I can't remember the Heartless taking over my world or what world I even came from. Could he really trust anyone who might not even be a real person?"

"Cloud, none of us knew where he was," Aeris began softly as he finished, "Yuffie only found him by accident. If Leon were going to tell anyone anything, you would be first," she smiled slightly, "Trust me, I know."

Before Cloud had the chance to ask just how Aeris knew, Yuffie bolted out of her chair and slammed her fist on the table.

"That's it," Yuffie declared, "We the Committee have decided you are going to tell Squall how you feel!"

At the way everyone turned to look at the young ninja, specifically Merlin and Cid, Yuffie rolled her eyes and sighed, "Oh ok, ok. And maybe you should find out what's going on with the Heartless while you're there. We should probably start talking about that."

"The Committee agrees," Aeris piped before Cloud could argue.

Cloud looked desperately at Tifa. She simply nodded and patted his knuckles. It was funny how, without a word, she'd told him exactly what he needed to hear: Trust us. You are going to be fine.

"Alright," Cloud relented, "I'll go."

"Thank god," Cid groaned, "Not that y'all aren't near and dear t'me, but now that Cloud's done with, I'd much like for our meetings NOT to turn into shitty episodes of 'Days of Our HP'. I'm lookin' at you, 'leader'."

"Hey!" Yuffie's cheeks puffed out indignantly.

They all laughed. Even Merlin chuckled, hard as he tried to resist.

Cloud found himself smiling, too. Maybe he didn't know if he ever truly had a family, but the people around him now were so close that it didn't really seem to matter. Most of the time, that was the thought that terrified him. He was afraid that Sephiroth was right, that they were all fragile. That what they had was fleeting.

Still, in that moment, he chose to have faith. If happiness really was fleeting, then maybe, maybe, it was still enough.

**.**

Leon surveyed the damage done to him in front of the bathroom mirror, clutching tightly to the sink for support.

A purple bite mark had nestled itself in the juncture between his neck and shoulder, almost as dark as the black fingerprints cradling his hips. His knees stung, red and raw from rug burn. His throat felt swollen, throbbing from crying out. To be honest, he was quite amazed he hadn't woken up paralyzed from the waist down.

_Great plan, idiot,_ he thought bitterly to his reflection. He almost didn't want to see his own face. _Let's see if we can fix you up._

Fingers fumbling with the edge of the mirror, he yanked it open to reveal a cabinet full of healing items. With a sigh of relief, he grabbed a Hi-Potion and began to close the alcove, only to spot a sliver of Sephiroth coming up behind him. Panicking, he collapsed to the floor, stuffing the vial in the toilet and slamming the lid down with the entirety of his upper body.

Sephiroth walked in, stopped, and stared.

_Yes, asshole, I'm hugging a toilet,_ Leon thought as he stared back defiantly, _It's not suspicious. At all._

To his surprise, instead of violently demanding an explanation, Sephiroth simply shook his head and laughed quietly. It was the first time he'd ever heard the man laugh without some sort of malice attached to it. Leon fought hard not to admit it, but it was kind of… nice.

"You surprised me this morning," Sephiroth admitted, catching Leon off guard, "Not many would have the nerve to pull what you tried. You are quite lucky to still be breathing."

Leon tried to ignore the way his heart skipped at the compliment. _What am I, his yippy dog now?_ He scoffed in annoyance, "I was horny and stupid."

"Yes. You were." Sephiroth agreed flatly. The sudden stone in his expression was obviously a warning.

_Heh, the joke is on me, _Leon thought bitterly, _for a moment there I almost thought we were going to have a semi-pleasant conversation._ "I'm going to go the Marketplace to replace the belts you broke," he announced, some snark attached. He knew that he was reverting back to failing tactics, but he desperately needed some time away from his silver-haired torturer. Being that the Marketplace was filled with Cid's best Claymores, The Committee usually focused on fighting Heartless in other areas. If he could get past Dark Depths, then there was little to no chance that anyone would see him today.

"Oh? You're going shopping? With what munny?" Sephiroth asked. The older man's regular cruelty seemed to have seeped back into his amusement.

Leon only paled in response. He'd left all of his Munny in his house at the Borough.

"Clean yourself up," Sephiroth ordered, "I will pay, provided that no more silly thoughts enter your head," he turned to the door and stopped, head twisting back to peer at him, "Oh, and be sure to put that potion back in its place. I would hate to have the glass break and end up stuck inside your lungs."

_I'm sure you would,_ Leon added to himself sarcastically as the man left. Still, he heeded the threat and put the vial back, not without some disappointment.

With a few stumbling steps, he made it to the shower and turned the water on. Silver hair and feathers clogged the drain. Seeing how neatly Sephiroth kept the rest of his house, Leon could only deduce that the mess had been left there as a present just for him. He stared at the many tubes of gels and scrubs, wondering where in that mess a plain bar of soap would be. _And what self-respecting man has a loofah in his bath?_

Leon groaned, tracing his scar with his fingertips. The only thing that kept him from crawling his way back home, nakedness be damned, was the thought that Cloud could ever be in a similar position. Day two already seemed to be dragging on forever. _Maybe that's a good thing,_ he joked sardonically to himself, _since I obviously don't know what the hell I'm doing._

_**.**  
_

Leon had never been so humiliated in his life. Not even when Sora, a kid, had beaten him with the Keyblade. The Committee, which hadn't been made official yet, joked on him for what seemed like ages… until they each had their asses handed to them by the same boy at the Coliseum. He at least had been justified in that case.

There was no justification for what Sephiroth was making him endure right now. _Bastard probably planned this from the start._

Because Leon had been denied healing, he was limping horribly. Because he was limping horribly, he was forced to hold onto Sephiroth's arm. Because he was holding onto Sephiroth's arm, Sephiroth had an arm around his waist, hand uncomfortably close to his derriere. Leon felt convinced that he was being touted around like a trophy wife. _He sure is spoiling me like one._

He was starting to think there was some ulterior motive to Sephiroth coming with him to the Marketplace; one other than degrading him in public and forcing his wounded body to move around more. After the leather shop, Sephiroth had decided to get him clothes and toiletries for his stay. Then he had insisted on buying accessories for his Gunblade. He even mandated that each order, other than the belts, be moogle-delivered to his house, as if he were too good to demean either of them with carrying bags. When they had nothing left to shop for, Sephiroth demanded they eat at a 5 star restaurant.

"Did you enjoy your meal?" Sephiroth asked as they left.

"A moombaburger is a moombaburger. No matter where you get it, it all tastes the same," _Still, did you really have to spend that much?_ Leon added to himself. He made it a point to focus on his new belts; it made him feel less self-conscious about being stared at by the crowd, although Sephiroth didn't seem to care.

"Good, then," Sephiroth replied as if he hadn't heard Leon complain, "What kind of ice cream do you want?"

_This is getting ridiculous._ "I don't want ice cream." _I want to go home- to _my _home- and never walk again_. Unfortunately, Leon had little control over where Sephiroth steered his body and soon found himself in line at a fancier version of McDuck's. He huffed, "This doesn't mean I'm ordering."

"I'll get you chocolate, then," Sephiroth decided, "It's the best flavor available anyways. Sea Salt is overhyped."

If the older man had phrased his words any other way, Leon might have let it go. "I think you meant to say that vanilla is the best flavor."

Sephiroth looked at the brunette as if he were mentally unstable. "No, I meant chocolate. Everyone loves chocolate."

"Chocolate is ok. Vanilla is the best," Leon returned the look.

The man at the counter cleared his throat and spoke sharply, "What do you two want?"

Leon frowned. This was about the fourth place that had greeted them this way. Maybe this was just how high-end places were run. If so, he was glad that he never went to them. _No wonder Sephiroth always has a stick up his ass. _"Go ahead. Get your over-priced chocoshit."

"Oddly enough… I feel like vanilla today," Sephiroth answered, "How about you?"

Leon's frown deepened as he suddenly realized what he was in the mood for. _There must be something wrong with me._ "…I …actually want chocolate."

Thankfully, Sephiroth did not comment on the obvious hypocrisy of the situation. By the puzzled look on the taller man's face, he seemed equally lost in his own flavor-identity crisis.

The workers in the back immediately started on their order, a few of them slipping in their rush to get the whole transaction over with. Sephiroth handed his munny to the girl at the register, and Leon couldn't help but notice how her hands shook as she took it. Ice cream cones were in their hands in less than 30 seconds.

As they walked away, Leon only grew more troubled by the way people were treating them. Even if they were expensive places, it unnerved him how no one even smiled politely as soon as they saw Sephiroth. He had to know. "What did you do to everyone around here?"

"What do you mean? Oh-" Sephiroth chuckled darkly, "Well, when I first moved here, a lot of businesses in the Marketplace refused me service. I merely reminded them of the value of Munny," With a slight nod to his Masamune, Sephiroth licked his desert like a cat with cream.

_Nice to know you take violence so seriously._ Disgusted, Leon tried to push some distance between himself and the silver-haired man. Sephiroth only squeezed him against him tighter, "What kind of movies do you fancy? _Leechgrave_ is supposed to be a good thriller."

_Alright, that's it. I've had enough._ Lifting his eyes from his belts, Leon ground his heels into place. "What are you playing at?"

"Hm?" Sephiroth feigned innocence, "You're not having fun on our little date?"

"No- I mean, yes- I mean-" Leon retreated to his ice cream in frustration. He wanted to avoid sounding any more like a teenage girl. _A date? Is that what this is?_ Leon was surprised that Sephiroth seemed to even know what a date was. A part of him might have even been flattered… provided he could trust Sephiroth at all. _And if, you know, he wasn't in Jiminy Cricket's list of monster douchebags._ _There has to be something else. He doesn't do anything that doesn't benefit _him_…_

Funny. It suddenly struck him how much Sephiroth reminded him of the way he used to be.

"Thank you, for everything," Leon exhaled, "but… why are you being so nice to me?"

Sephiroth chuckled bemusedly. One of the older man's gloved hands rose up to lift up his chin. In a moment, curved lips were brushing against his. "I don't have to be," Sephiroth whispered against his mouth, "In most cases, you're safer assuming that I'm not."

Leon didn't know Sephiroth's kiss could be so gentle. At the same time, the ice cream had made Sephiroth's lips terribly cold. It reminded Leon that there was something important he was forgetting. Something in that frigidness that bothered him. Something in that carefulness that guilted him more than when Sephiroth was rough. And yet Leon couldn't fight it.

It was hard to resist when Sephiroth was kissing him like a lover. An actual lover, not just some toy he'd picked up out of the Coliseum sand and dusted off. It was if Sephiroth was giving him a rare glance into the man he could be. That man seemed invitingly familiar, somehow.

The Marketplace's busy crowds continued to pass by, gradually becoming nothing more than a conjoined blur, and then finally sinking into darkness as Leon's eyes closed. Slowly, he found his palms roaming up Sephiroth's chest, his fingers curling in the ends of silver bangs.

But before he wanted it to end, it was over. As the elder warrior pulled away, there was a smile on his face, but his eyes were not looking at Leon.

Instead, they looked straight at Cloud.

**.**

Maybe the blonde had been standing there long enough for the shock to wear off, but Cloud didn't look surprised. Instead, he looked as if he had simply forgotten to expect disappointment. The stale smile that lingered on his face was like a stab in Leon's gut. 'You got me good,' it seemed to say, 'you got me good.' As if nothing ever mattered, Cloud turned and hid his face. In a moment, he was gone.

Leon pushed his hardest against Sephiroth, desperate for the vices around his arms to let him go. His lips tightened into a thin line. "You said you wouldn't hurt Cloud if I was with you."

"It hasn't been seven days yet," Sephiroth clarified musingly, "You shouldn't give up, though. You've just proven yourself quite useful."

Silence stretched between them despite the bustle of people around.

Sephiroth looked at the ground and raised a brow, "Looks like you dropped your ice cream while melting in my mouth."

"You should save us both the trouble and go fuck yourself." A hollow chuckle shook Leon's throat, bringing out the hoarseness of his voice. "There was never a way I could win this bet, was there?" It was less of a rhetorical question and more of a bitter confirmation to himself. _You were using me to hurt him all along. You were using me to pull him back into the darkness._

The satisfaction on Sephiroth's lips was all the evidence he needed. "Things worked out more quickly than I'd have liked," Sephiroth admitted, his expression suddenly distant, "I was planning for the shopkeepers to mention us, for gossip to spread, for Cloud and the others to question you about it, for your lies to keep building... it really is a shame I couldn't string you all along longer." He gave a pointed glance back in Leon's direction, "I will miss the company of your skin."

Leon balled his hand into a fist and slammed it into Sephiroth's chest as hard as he could. He didn't care that the action probably caused himself more pain than it dealt. He didn't care if Sephiroth killed him for it. "_Why do you care so much about breaking him?_"

The elder warrior simply stared at him in return, studying him fiercely. It was if the outburst had caused the porcelain man to stop breathing. Slowly, Sephiroth's grip loosened enough to let Leon free. He was acting odd enough to make the brunette question whether he had been mistaken- that maybe _somewhere_ in the other man there really was a decent being, one with the capacity for remorse.

But then Sephiroth began to laugh quietly and shake his head.

"Goodbye, _Squall_."

Leon said nothing in response. He turned and began to make his way home. The only remorse he could find here was that he had gotten so familiar with the feel of Sephiroth's lips. He hoped he'd never have to see that villain smile again.

**.**

Cloud couldn't go back to Merlin's. He couldn't face everyone and tell them the news. How would they take hearing their leader had lied_?_ That Leon was with Sephiroth, of all people? Would they even believe him? Even in his own head, it didn't make sense.

But what did he know anyway?

Cloud couldn't go home. He knew that if he did, everyone would barge into his house regardless, asking why he didn't show at Merlin's. A closed door was practically an invitation for them, especially the girls. As soon as they saw Cloud's face, they would demand to know what went wrong, in which case, he didn't know what he would do. Even though Leon had hurt him, his secret was not Cloud's to tell. No, especially not when that secret would destroy The Committee. He would rather be destroyed first. The way things were, he was quickly getting that wish.

It had been a long time since Darkness felt so prominent in him. Perhaps there was something to Sephiroth's words; Darkness felt like the safest company he could afford right now.

In the end, Cloud found himself at the Bailey. It was almost ironic how he seemed to gravitate to the place he and Leon shared on sleepless nights, peering out from the balcony and making small talk until the shades of dawn crept back into the horizon. He remembered things shared that no one else could know. If The Committee found out, they would be vulture food…

"_Hey, Leon." _

_"Mm?"_

_"Look over there. What does that Nobody think it's doing?"_

"_Hm… looks like it's trying to push that Heartless into a Claymore."_

"_Hah. I doubt it. I think it's just too stupid to understand where it's going."_

"_No, I think it has a pretty good idea what it's doing, Cloud."_

"_Oh? How do you know? Explain, oh Wise and Fearless Leader." Cloud lifted a brow._

"_Didn't you get the memo from Sora?" Leon replied all too matter-of-factly. "Apparently killing Heartless releases their hearts, which is what the Nobodies want. They're jealous of what they don't have."_

"_So what you're basically saying is that Dusk is committing first degree murder." Cloud's eyebrow seemed in danger of disappearing into his hairline forever._

_It took Leon a moment to respond, "Yes. Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying, smartass."_

"_Just making sure you know just how ridiculous that sounds." Cloud looked away, and then grew puzzled, "So if killing Heartless helps the Nobodies, why are we still doing it?"_

"_Well, we can't let them hurt the townspeople, can we?"_

"_Mm." The puzzled look did not leave the blonde's face. "So why do we call them Heartless, then? I mean, they may be consumed by darkness, but they still have hearts, right?"_

"_Cloud."_

"_Huh?"_

_It was Leon's turn to look bemused, "Shut up."_

He chuckled at the memory for a moment, but the music in his laughter soon went sour and quiet. Again, Cloud searched his mind for a way to understand what had happened back in the Marketplace. He just couldn't. The only thing that made any sense was...

…_Happiness is pointless, fleeting, fragile._

Something odd struck Cloud's peripheral vision, jarring him from his thoughts. Upon focusing on it, it looked to be a man being attacked by a Dragoon. Cloud sighed. What business did any resident of Radiant Garden have being out this time of night? With things the way they were, the man almost deserved to get ambushed.

Grimacing, the blonde made his way down. Even if the man was stupid, Cloud knew he couldn't live with himself if he'd just stood there and watched someone die. It didn't mean he had a bleeding heart like he once thought Leon did. He was fully intending on finding out this man's address so he could send Tifa to yell at him. She was good at that sort of thing.

**.**

Speaking of Leon, Cloud could now confirm the stupidity of the man he was saving.

The brown-haired warrior had apparently been knocked down by the Dragoon's shockwave and was now avoiding its attacks by flopping back and forth on the ground. He reminded Cloud of a small child rolling down a rocky hill, except that this little boy's face looked much more pathetic.

"I can't believe I wasted my time coming down here," Cloud groaned, kicking the handle of a discarded Gunblade in Leon's direction before evading a jump attack.

The other fighter said nothing in response, entirely too focused on imitating a displaced fish to pick the weapon up.

"What the hell's wrong with you, Leon? Take it, get up, and finish him."

"Can't." Leon said in between rolls. By the way his pupils looked, Leon was getting too dizzy to keep his act up much longer.

"What do you mean, you can't?" Using the blunt edge of his buster sword, Cloud blocked the Dragoon's lance and knocked the creature back enough to let Leon speak.

"My ass," Leon breathed as he landed on his back, looking up at the sky, "is broke."

"Oh." Cloud deadpanned. "Well," he said as he began to turn away, "You have fun with that."

"Wait, Cloud, can't we even talk about this?"

From the back of Cloud's head, he could hear that the Dragoon had returned to its prey. "What is there to talk about?"

"Help me get," there was a pause and ruffling of clothes and groans, "this overgrown bee," another audible shift, "off me."

Cloud took a deep breath. It made his lungs ache. "Fine."

**.**

Leon watched as Cloud pushed his left foot off from the ground, leaping into the air and swinging his blade out from behind himself. With another push from a rock on the wall, the blonde warrior gained the height he needed to see the Dragoon's neck. In a spinning dive, the Nobody's head fell to the ground in a clean cut, and not too soon. The dead foes' lance had nearly grazed Leon's neck.

Cloud dug the Buster Sword into the ground and walked towards him, grudgingly offering a hand. "Now what do you have to say?"

Leon stared at Cloud's face intently. "Thank you." As he took Cloud's warm hand, blurred fragments of images surfaced from his subconscious. Again, he caught himself feeling like he was forgetting something._ There's no time for that now. _

Cloud looked away, his tone bitter. "Don't mention it." He let go of Leon's hand as soon as the other was able to stand on his own.

Leon leaned on his Gunblade, using it as a cane. His gaze never left Cloud's face, even though the blonde seemed uncomfortable with being scrutinized so closely. There had to be _something_ Leon could do to break the tension. He looked at the way he leaned on his weapon. "Aren't you going to make a smartass comment about me being old man?" _Ba-dum tiss!_

"Is that all you wanted?" the blonde spat.

_Alright, noted: tension worsened by crappy jokes. _ Truth be told, Leon hadn't really planned out what he was going to say. All of the lines he could think of were painfully cheap, their use worn out by cheating men throughout the ages. In the end, he couldn't focus. Seeing Cloud's face this close kept reminding him of something in his dream. _Wait- what if Sephiroth wasn't the only person in it? _"I… I don't have any excuses," he stated finally, tracing pale freckles with his pupils.

"Good then" Cloud snarled, turning to leave.

"…But there is something I need to know." Leon said suddenly. He wasn't quite sure if he meant it or not, wasn't quite sure if that _something _was even relevant. His instincts had finally pushed through his logical grasp and were running away from him wildly. It was a dangerous repeat of his thought process this morning, but at this point, what did he have to lose?

Cloud froze. "You don't have the right to know anything about us anymore. I'm leav-"

Using the Gunblade as leverage, Leon fell to hug Cloud's shoulders and kissed him before he could finish the word.

In a moment his dream become clear. The taste of those lips was like twilight between the man he loved and the man that gave him bittersweet misery. He threaded his fingers through blonde spikes, trying to hold on to that moment, trying to fully understand before Cloud gained the sense to struggle. He began to worry when the moment grew too long and that struggle never happened.

Instead, the blonde remained limp as Leon finally pulled away for air, blue eyes sky-wide with confusion. "I just don't get it, Leon… Why?"

Leon's hands gripped Cloud's arms firmly. "I understand what Sephiroth means now when he says he is your darkness," he looked directly into the blonde's eyes, "He doesn't mean that he's simply the cause of it, though he does do his part."

The confusion grew on Cloud's face, "What do you mean?" after a moment, recognition settled on his face. He began to laugh nervously, looking away, dismissive, "What a sorry excuse. You're actually using his metaphors to get away with this? I've told you, Sephiroth always says bullshit like that."

Leon's tone grew more serious, "When I met you, you didn't have memories, Cloud. The reason you keep fighting him, the reason you let yourself continually be taken advantage by him, is because he knows things about you that no one else does. _This could be your answer_."

"Enough." Cloud's rage returned two-fold, "I never thought you would be low enough to go there, Leon. My past is no one's damned business but my own." With a harsh shove, Cloud distanced himself, letting Leon's poor balance send him falling to his knees. The edges of Cloud's eyes winced painfully at his own cruelty, but he made no move to redeem himself over the act. "And about pasts, why should I even trust you? You weren't even taking care of yours like you said you were." His voice began to shake, "I _worried _about you. You lied to me, to all of us."

"I know," Leon admitted, his fingers curling in the ground beneath him, "but please think about it," his eyes closed as his head dropped, face hiding in the shadows of his hair. "I promise you, no matter what, I will get this all sorted out."

"You promise?" Cloud snorted, turning away once again. "Go back to Sephiroth, Leon," his voice grew quiet as he began to walk, "and don't come back to us until you've made good on your word."

_I will. _Leon thought to himself as the sound of Cloud's footfalls faded into the night. _You should know that promises are way more likely to break me._

_**.**  
_

Leon sat in the corner of his bedroom, sipping slowly from one of the Elixirs he kept stashed in his night table, thinking. It felt too good to be here at home again. The very notion that he would leave instead of leaping under his covers to greet sleep seemed almost impossible for his body to understand. The fact that he was going to head straight back into Sephiroth's leather clutches seemed even more incomprehensible. But he would give Cloud his space, as promised. He would finish this, as promised. This ordeal had caused too much damage for him to back down. Leon was not a coward like Squall once was.

"Darkness is simply the absence of light," He whispered to himself. The phrase from Sephiroth's book stuck out to him since learning how it related to the elder warrior's existence.

_I get it now. _Dawn crept into the room from his window. It was hard not to notice how the shadows seemed to flee from the sun and multiply in the shade. 'Darkness is the absence of light," he whispered again as he rose and grabbed his coat. _They really are the same. _He began to pack a duffel bag with a few personal things and Munny. He refused to be caught unprepared again. _Normally, humanity uses light in order to chase away the fear of darkness… _

He couldn't help but grin to himself. For once in the past few days, he had a plan. An actual, _real _plan. One that wasn't just a thinly-veiled go-and-get-laid plan.

_Sephiroth, you keep yourself in darkness because, like Cloud, you fear the light. _


End file.
